'Virat Kohli has come clean' – Nayan Mongia on white ball captaincy controversy

Virat Kohli’s sensational claims in the press conference on December 15 have raised several questions about BCCI’s decision to remove him from the captaincy position. Earlier, BCCI President Saurav Ganguly had mentioned that the board asked him not to step down from the T20I captaincy position.

Former Indian wicketkeeper Nayan Mongia has given his reaction to this controversy surrounding Indian cricket. During the press conference, Kohli spoke of having no communication from BCCI’s end over ODI captaincy.

“There was no offense, no hesitation, and not for once was I told that ‘you should not leave T20 captaincy’,” Kohli mentioned during the press conference.

“It’s between Virat and the (BCCI) president,” Mongia said as quoted by NDTV.

Mongia further added that Kohli had answered all the queries that he could, and now the ball is in BCCI’s court. He expects the board to clear all the air and end this controversy.

“Virat has come clean and openly said everything,” Mongia added on this captaincy saga.

BCCI called Kohli’s move a progressive step

When Kohli stepped down as India’s T20I captain, the BCCI termed it a progressive step. Kohli mentioned the same in his presser and added that he always wanted to continue as a skipper in Tests and ODIs.

“On the contrary, the BCCI called it a progressive step and in the right direction. At that time I had communicated that yes, I would like to continue in Tests and ODIs unless office-bearers and selectors think that I shouldn’t carry on with this responsibility,” Kohli added.

In an interview, Ganguly had said that he didn’t want Kohli to leave the captaincy of the Indian T20I team.

“Actually, the BCCI had requested Virat to not step down as the T20I skipper but obviously, he did not agree. And the selectors then did not feel it right to have two different captains for two white-ball formats,” Ganguly mentioned.

While announcing the ODI squad for the South Africa tour, BCCI named Rohit Sharma the team’s captain in place of Kohli. Despite Kohli mentioning that he wanted to remain the captain of the ODI squad.